Abrasive Wear Behavior of In Situ TiC Reinforced with Al-4.5%Cu Matrix

The present work deals with the investigation on weight loss and coefficient of friction of TiC reinforced Al-4.5%Cu in situ metal matrix composites. Experiments were conducted using pin-on-disc apparatus against abrasive paper by varying the applied load, sliding distance, and weight percentage of TiC. The results indicated significant improvement in the mechanical properties and wear resistance of experimental composites as compared to the parent metal matrix. The percentage of porosity though increased with increasing TiC reinforcement. The variation of weight loss of composites increased linearly with increasing applied load and sliding distance, whereas decreased with increasing weight percentage of TiC reinforcement. The coefficient of friction decreased linearly with increasing applied load and TiC reinforcement. SEM micrographs of worn surfaces show a well compacted transfer layer of wear debris along with wear track over the sliding surface. Grooves, delamination, and crack propagation were also observed in all test samples. The effective depth of penetration and size of debris was seen to reduce with increasing wt.% of TiC reinforcement in metal matrix.